Liu Jun didn’t respond, his mind still clouded and confused, struck speechless by the shock of Qian Hongming keeping a mistress. He instinctively reached for his phone, but his father’s quick reflexes caught and held down his arm. “Don’t do anything foolish. What can an outsider like you do? Report it to Qian Hongming’s wife, or scold Qian Hongming?”
Liu Jun’s mind turned a corner, and he knew he wouldn’t report the situation to Jiali. He had already experienced firsthand what happens when a wife learns of her husband’s affair. “I’ll talk with Hongming.”
Liu Shitang said slowly, “Do you understand? Keeping a young girl, especially a female college student—what a prestigious thing that is.”
Liu Jun was speechless. Yes, he understood. Just like how Qian Hongming had bought a BMW first when he had money, despite Liu Jun’s cost-effectiveness arguments that couldn’t pull him back. Could he dissuade Qian Hongming about the mistress matter? Liu Jun discovered he truly had no way to approach it. “What should Jiali do?”
“As long as Qian Hongming can handle the mistress properly, his wife will either never know about this for her entire life, or spend her entire life pretending not to know about it.”
“Jiali isn’t that kind of woman.”
“No one can be an exception; everyone is born of father and mother.” Liu Shitang didn’t want to continue this topic, afraid his son might think of their own family’s past through roundabout associations, bringing up old matters and ruining a perfectly good New Year’s Eve. “But having said that, these past two years I’ve watched you work hard, yet you seem to enjoy it. Let me tell you, being the head of a chicken versus the tail of a phoenix—the feeling is completely different. Being in charge, being the master, that’s what gives you motivation. Otherwise, if you’re managed by a boss every day…”
“Dad, rest assured, I don’t regret returning to China. It’s just that these past two years have been exhausting. I want to take advantage of the long Spring Festival holiday to relax in the exciting world with friends, and also replace my camera and phone. You can also go with your friends; have a travel agency handle the visa. I won’t be here from the first to the fifth day of the New Year, so Dad should visit the factory every day.”
“You’ve matured a lot these past two years. In the beginning, Dad was worried about you, even in his dreams. Now I only need to take care of myself, and you can even remind me constantly. I live like a deity. I can retire now. Once the new product market is established, I’ll truly retire. Your aunt has always said I’m too bold—how can I just let go completely? Other families have father and son working together for several years before gradually letting go. Look, the results are out. By letting go completely, you’ve grown even faster. Over these nearly three years, your temperament has changed, your appearance has changed, and your style is completely different. Before you were a boy, now you’re a man with responsibility. Has your friend Shen Huadong grown as rapidly as you?”
“Aunt said you were bold—wasn’t she worried that your life’s wealth would be embezzled by me?”
“Haha, see, this is your progress. You wouldn’t have thought of these things before. In this society, there are only things you can’t think of, not things you can’t see. To avoid losses, you can only strike first. About Teacher Fu… I finally used the old-fashioned method, paid a thousand yuan to have someone settle it, otherwise, that kind of person would never stop. Watch tonight, and the car won’t be used as a test subject anymore. If there are any more little moves…”
Liu Jun remained silent, which meant he raised no objections. He was aware that his changes over these years since returning to China had been significant. If it were when he first returned to China, he might have made a special trip to find Aunt Fu to repay evil with kindness, even helping to solve her living difficulties. If it were when he first returned to China, he wouldn’t have stood by and watched Qian Hongming’s affair. When he first returned to China, he had indeed been full of grand ambitions, seeing the various huge gaps and shortcomings domestically, thinking he could change heaven and earth. Now he knew he was merely someone who had studied abroad, at most just an ordinary person who had seen a broader sky. What he could accomplish was far too little. Every step he took wasn’t as easy as he had imagined. A society has its own rules; he alone couldn’t change the rules and could only adapt. As Liang Sishen put it, first establish a firm foothold.
The night passed, and compared to last year’s Spring Festival morning chaos, this year was peaceful all night. It seemed that domestic matters had to be solved with domestic methods—no question about it.
On New Year’s Day this year, Liu Jun coincidentally encountered Yang Xun’s family again. Last time at the temple, this time at the airport, they were taking the same flight to Hong Kong. Even though Liu Jun and Yang Xun ignored each other, Shen Huadong and Yang Xun still exchanged pleasantries, and Yang Li also sat together with Liu Jun on the plane. Yang Li told Liu Jun that their group’s theme was to transit through Hong Kong to send his sister-in-law Ren Xia’er to America to raise a pair of children, so the young children’s educational start would be in an English-teaching environment. Of course, the siblings were also taking the opportunity to tour America. Liu Jun found this very strange—for the sake of children, having husband and wife separated by vast oceans like the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, would someone like Yang Xun restrain himself? But immediately Liu Jun maliciously realized that, faced with a husband without taboos, what should a well-educated and reasonable wife do? Perhaps taking a pair of children and flying far away, pretending not to know about this matter for a lifetime, was the most realistic approach. Liu Jun couldn’t help but think of Jiali’s fate.
Playing with a group of friends of similar age and comparable experiences, there basically wouldn’t be any surprises. Although it was still three meals a day as usual, breakfast was eliminated, and late-night snacks were added. They returned satisfied, everyone carrying not only their purchases but also things for others. When leaving, everyone had a shopping list in hand; when returning, they were pulling and carrying bags on their shoulders. Liu Jun also had a cart full of overweight luggage, with milk powder, snacks, and toys bought for Xiao Suihua alone filling an entire red and white striped large woven bag. Qian Hongming naturally came to pick him up and serve as a porter.
Seeing Qian Hongming today, Liu Jun felt uncomfortable all over. He put the red and white striped woven bag into the trunk, then pulled open the zipper, unlocked it, and took out a small package, saying, “This bag is for Jiali. I won’t give it to you; I’ll find time to give it to her myself.”
Qian Hongming didn’t understand his meaning and laughed, “Still want to claim credit in person? Give it to me; my wife is sacred and inviolable.”
“I won’t give it to you. I’m afraid you’ll turn around and give it to someone else, and Jiali won’t get it. What do you plan to do about Jiali?”
Qian Hongming was startled and couldn’t help but look around at the several people traveling with Liu Jun. He didn’t recognize any of them and wondered how the matter could have reached Liu Jun’s ears. Seeing that he didn’t answer, Liu Jun pressed again, “What do you plan to do about Jiali? I won’t allow you to harm Jiali. We both know this kind of harm is fatal.”
Being stared at by Liu Jun, Qian Hongming had no choice but to state his position: “I’ll handle it. It was just a momentary lapse of judgment.”
“Handle it? That poor girl must be having a hard time, too. Hongming, listen to me: Jiali is my friend. You cannot wrong her.” But after bidding farewell to his friends and getting into separate cars to go home, Liu Jun still couldn’t help but say, “Yang Xun sent his wife and children abroad…”
“No, don’t you dare mention this to Jiali, and don’t give Jiali that rotten advice. Jiali is my harbor; rest assured.”
“Since Jiali is your harbor, why aren’t you satisfied?”
“Don’t ask anymore. We move in different circles with different behavioral standards. You might not understand. Including how you often have different girls in your car—I don’t understand that either, but I don’t ask. I only promise you that Jiali won’t know, and Jiali won’t be harmed.”
Liu Jun was speechless. Returning to his home, Qian Hongming carried up a laptop, insisting on showing Liu Jun London copper futures. Qian Hongming connected to the internet and explained excitedly. Liu Jun listened without understanding, completely unfamiliar with the terminology and operations. Options, contracts, delivery, position closing, futures shorts and longs—Qian Hongming alternated between Chinese and English, and Liu Jun’s brain cells were alternately torn apart, allegedly delivered. “I only see that the current copper price data converted to RMB, plus shipping costs, is still much higher than domestic market copper prices. Are you thinking of trading copper through the futures market? Doesn’t Shanghai also have copper futures domestically?”
“A teachable student!” At this moment, Qian Hongming had none of his usual refined demeanor, his eyes shooting excited light, obviously with abnormally high hormone secretion. “Let me show you Shanghai copper…”
Liu Jun placed both hands completely over the keyboard. “Just tell me simply: are you not doing this year’s exports and switching to speculating in futures instead?”
Qian Hongming was so anxious he wanted to pull Liu Jun’s hands away, but couldn’t, and could only worry helplessly. “I’m trying to explain to you, but you won’t listen properly. I’m doing hedging. If I get the direction right, I’ll realize profits in the futures market. If I get it wrong, at worst, I’ll take delivery of imports. After all, domestic copper prices have always remained high, so the risk isn’t great. Furthermore, I can also use my brain on letters of credit, grasping both London copper and Shanghai copper… cough, seeing your blank expression, let me explain the rules to you in detail. These days, we can’t drill into the privileged circle to do monopolistic trading, so we can only make good use of the rules. The more complex the rules, the more cross-industry, the fewer people doing it, the richer the profits. Because this is a game limited to high-IQ populations.”
Liu Jun had to brew a pot of coffee to concentrate on listening to Qian Hongming’s knowledge infusion. Fortunately, Liu Jun was also a smart person. Even though it was a field he had never touched, after listening to several examples, he finally understood the general situation fairly well. Adding that his company now used copper and he had some understanding of domestic copper price trends, after some mental calculations, his eyes also lit up cunningly.
“Do it together? We’ve always cooperated harmoniously and trusted each other. This is the best foundation for cooperation.”
“But where do I have the energy and time? Right now, just Tengfei alone occupies all my time.”
“You can watch London copper in the evenings. At worst, don’t go to entertainment venues to burn off your excess energy.”
“Me at entertainment venues? Going out for fun twice a week is already considered adequate. Another problem: capital? I can barely take care of myself and can’t spare funds. We can’t cooperate.” While saying this, Liu Jun thought of a financial plan Cui Bingbing had made for him. He still needed to find time for a detailed discussion with Cui Bingbing, while also delivering the reference books he had bought for her in Hong Kong. “Use the method from last time’s long-term letter of credit arbitrage?”
“Now you can agree?” Qian Hongming’s fingers drummed the table in turns, his gaze bright and encouraging Liu Jun.
Liu Jun carefully organized in his mind the unfamiliar procedures from letters of credit to futures. “You could do it alone. You already have everything needed for independent operation. You don’t need to share profits with me. Just go ahead and do it. If you have to take delivery of high-priced copper, as long as the price difference with the domestic market isn’t too great, I can take it over, and also persuade Shen Huadong to take part of it.”
“No, I’m a newcomer on the road. I need someone trustworthy to discuss with and do it together, for courage.”
“With your current assets, if you mortgage them, it’s enough to open a Shanghai copper account…”
“How is that enough? That’s not as good as speculating in stocks and applying for new shares. It’s always been you being bold and me being meticulous; we’ve always had a good cooperative division of labor. Let’s go!”
“Try it for one month!” Liu Jun couldn’t resist the temptation and was eager to try. But he couldn’t help thinking that now his and Qian Hongming’s roles seemed to have reversed—now Qian Hongming was bold, and he was meticulous.